OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party is refusing to back down from comments he made likening convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh to tea party activists.

Chairman Wallace Collins on Tuesday described McVeigh as an anti-government "right winger" and said he sees tea party activists in a "similar vein." He previously told a Fox News reporter that if McVeigh were alive today, he would likely be a member of the tea party.

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell described Collins' comments as "offensive and despicable" and demanded an apology.

Collins refused to apologize and says Pinnell is trying to politicize his comments.

McVeigh was convicted on federal murder charges for the April 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people, including 19 children.